Lady Engineers Play Well at Middlebury

By Nisha Singh
TEAM CAPTAIN

Last weekend, the women’s tennis team travelled to Vermont to play in the annual Middlebury College Invitational Tennis Tournament. The tournament consisted of three singles flights (combining first/second, third/fourth, and fifth/sixth singles in each).

In singles, Kelly Koskelin ’02 advanced all the way to the semifinals on Sunday. Seeded second, she received a bye in the first round. The windy conditions affected her game, as she struggled to a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory in the 2nd round against Nazareth College. However, she found her rhythm just in time as she crushed Connecticut College 6-1, 6-2 in the quarters. She faced the fourth seed from Middlebury in the semifinals, and lost a close one, 7-5, 6-2. In the same flight, Jessica Hall ’02 also received a first round bye, but then had the misfortune to draw the top seed from Colby College in the second round. However, she battled her opponent for every point, and lost a hard-fought 6-4, 6-3 decision.

In doubles, Koskelin and Hall cruised in the first two rounds. They defeated William Smith College 8-2 in the first round, and St. Lawrence University 8-1 in the quarterfinals. However, they faced a much tougher Hamilton College opponent in the semifinals, losing a close match 9-7

In the “B” singles flight, Nisha Singh ’00 faced William Smith in the first round. Singh fell in three sets 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 after battling in the wind for over 2 hours. Also in the “B” singles flight, Yi-Ning Cheng ’02 received a bye in the first round, but lost to Nazareth, 6-1, 6-0.

Singh and Cheng put their singles disappointments aside and advanced all the way to the finals in the flight “B” doubles. After receiving a first round-bye, they got by Monctlair State College 8-6, in the quarterfinals, and crushed St. Lawrence 8-2 in the semifinals. They couldn’t quite pull off the upset of host Middlebury in the final, as they lost 8-3.

In the “C” singles flight, Leela Ramnath ’02 advanced to the second round after beating a St. Lawrence player 6-3, 6-3. She lost to Connecticut College. Divya Bhat ’02 lost in the first round to Vermont, 6-0, 6-4. The two teamed together in the “C” flight doubles, where they lost in the first round to William Smith 8-5. They also lost two consolation rounds, 8-4 to Nazareth and 9-7 to Cortland.

The team travels to Williams College on Friday for their next match. They will then compete in the New England Showcase at Wellesley College this coming weekend.